Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-06-10
THE EFFECTS OF COCA.
T4AT STRANGE PRODUCT OF THE
FORESTS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

Interesting Report from San Salvador.
P.cuiiaritIes of Chewing Coca Hygi-
Spanish Physician.
Consul Du Pre- transmits from San Sal
vudor an interesting report upon the use
Of coca in that country and its effects
upon the inhabitants. lie says:
Il have seen so much recently written
0f coca In newspapers and in medical pub
liCations that lam impelled 10 report what
| have learned Of the virtues of this prod
uCt of South American forests. With
leathern straps passing around their fore
heads 10 sustain burdens Of 40 or POO
pounds on their hacks, | find these 1.-the,
slender natives traverSing plains and
mountains with greater CELEBRITY than the
mule |. bcstride, which travels the live
long day six miles an hour. Native ply
siCianS and those of the schools Of Paris,
France, concur in assuring me that this
extraordinary capacity for endurance Of
toll and hunger is To be ascribed Ia the
use by these yiageros Of coca. Recently
the medical professions in all countries has
been induced To study the strange and
unique properties and effects Of coca \
peculiar force, producing nervous insensi-
bllity, distinguishes coca when used Us an
Blkaluid.
1T is administered freely to infants,
and l. the chief intuyicant of men and
women. Youths through many days are
intrusted with the care of valuable tiocks
of llamaS, having no other sus;enance
than that 40 be found in little lcathern
purses containing coca and its compounds.
Indians chew ii constantly. Theirs, like
the mayi!lary movements of tobacco
chewerS, are inCeSSant. From thirty To
fifty grains are consumed daily, serving,
unlike tobacco, both as food and stimu-
liant. Without coca habitual chewers
cannot digest food: without il they are
unable to ascend mountains with long,
rapid strides the livelong day They will
not toll without it: without it they enjoy
nothing, without it, practically, they cease
10 live.
EFFECT OF CHEWING coca.
THE immediate effect Of chewing coca
is perfect insensibility of the interior Of
the month. The immediate sensation is
that which one would experience when
finding that his mouth had become great
void in somebody else's head. | had
dentist apply il when extracting the roots
of Il mOlar tooth. and the effect was as
described. Indians constantly using coca
finally lose the senses of taste and smell
They C;I eat without repugnance most
disgusting food and drink most nauseating
draughts. The sensitiveness of the mu-
cons membrane has been destroyed
When one goes further and swallows the
saliva impregnatei with the juice of the
coca leaf IA delicious sensation of warmth
and OF perfect blcsseduess entirely peryade
ones whole being, intellectual, nervous
and physical and he is Tapped in the joys
Of an elysium. In doses of fifteen TO sixty
grains coca produces delightful iutoXica
tion.
Its joys transcend in perfect blessed
ness all known human delights. \ sensa-
ton of lightneSs first supervcues: the air
inhaled is Zephyrs from angels wings;
there are wild imaginings and fantastic
hallucinations and gorgeous visions, and
then complete inSenSBitity. II is intCxi
cation without drowsiness, without con-
gestion of the brain, involving a sense Of
perfect rest. The law of gravitation is
suspended and the coluero drifts bodily
among the stars. Meanwhile the muscu-
lar system is stimulated to an extraortli-
nary degree; an intellectual excitement
supervenes, enabling the possessed Of
this demon 10 watch and toll through
sleepless days and nights. No dreadful
headache or more intolerable nervous
prostration follows.
A MOST POTENT NEEvISF
SIT is the most potent nervine. almost.
at mans disposal Irs hygienic proper
ties are disclosed from its physiological
properties says a Spanish NJ D.. who
adds that in hot Infusion il is the one use
ful and healthful beverage one can use
sfter dining. Especially is it commended
Ia the feeble, 10 those who have tran
scended limits of sObriety in using
alcohol. Its virtues should lie tested,
therefore, in inebriate Gsylums. II surely
calms nervous eXcitability OF many, and
taken i'll small quantities, enables one to
endure cold and rain and snow, and it
enables one to defy great fatigue and re-
stores the forces lost by eycesses. II is
popularity used for indigestion for dis |
ordered stomachS, for hysteria. tlatulency
and colic, and all forms Of intestinal Gis- |
orders.
1t is used constantly by tuilers in |
mines, and when one reaches the mines |
after marching several days through !
forests and over mountains, sustained |
diUlit Ny thc Use ol Cptd ana maize, nt Is !
permitted 10 eat al discretion through |
four days and have perfect rest Then he |
is in perfect health and fresh and fat |
says the writer above quoted. 'Cocaismo' !
-habtual intoxication by the use of coca |
more easily becomes habitual and in |
durable than alcoholism or addictiveness |
TO opiates. Its consequences, however, |
are not yet wholly measured or compre- |
hcnded. Excessive and constant use of |
this intoxicant begets RAPIDLY, moral and |
intellectual degradation and decay, steady /
decline is interrupted at intervals by re- |
sStless impulses 10 DO most violent and |
brutal acts. The nature Of the father, rs
perverted by the drug, is transmitted TO |
the child, and the invetcrate vice, operat.
ing through generations. is said TO account |
for the brutality Of races of Indians, and |
Quichas and Almaras of Bolivian fast |
nesses w Washington Letter.